18-Year-Old F1 Racer Max Verstappen Could Be The World’s Most Valuable Athlete One Day After Spanish GP Win

Teenager Max Verstappen has made positioned himself as the fastest rising star in one of the world’s richest sports with a remarkable win in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, after Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton crashed on the very first lap. In his very first race for the powerful Red Bull team, the 18-year-old Verstappen became the youngest winner in F1 history, taking that distinction from four-time champion, Sebastien Vettel, who won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix at age 21.
Winning an F1 race at a tender age is usually a portent of a great career. Two-time champ Fernando Alonzo held the record before Vettel.
The list of top 10 youngest race winners before this weekend’s race included three-time world champ Lewis Hamilton, 2007 title winner Kimi Raikkonen, seven-time champ Michael Schumacher, and two-time champ Emerson Fittipaldi. Verstappen also became the youngest driver to lead a race and the youngest to stand on the podium, as well as the first Dutch Grand Prix winner.